


It’s Quiet at 2am

by underthenorthstar



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Pregnancy, Romance, Some angst, hopper is a big teddy bear that needs a lot of love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 14:45:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13320372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/underthenorthstar/pseuds/underthenorthstar
Summary: Hopper wakes up after a nightmare and is frantic when you aren’t beside him. Fluff and comfort ensue.





	It’s Quiet at 2am

**Author's Note:**

> I’m back with another little Hopper Drabble! It was a Tumblr request, enjoy!
> 
> TW: nightmares, panic attack, mention of accidental injury

It’s quiet at 2 am, in the woods.

Nothing but the sound of the wind whistling through the trees, a lullaby of sorts. You stand at the kitchen sink, glass of water in hand as you gaze out on the serene, moonlight drenched landscape. You’ve always loved the night. So calm and still, like water undisturbed. The inky blackness a comforting blanket wrapping around your shoulders. 

The quiet of this night, however, is broken by a loud bang. 

You jump in surprise as the door to your bedroom flies open, and a large form stumbles out into the main cabin. 

“Baby?! Baby, where are you?” A frantic, rough voice is calling out, and your once peaceful heart is suddenly clenching. It’s him. You’d left him snoring soundly. He must have had a nightmare. A bad one.

You quickly flick on the light above the sink, setting your glass down on the counter. He hasn’t noticed you yet, still turning in odd circles by the couch, eyes darting everywhere and unable to focus. 

“Baby?!” He calls again, and the desperation in his voice threatens to choke you.

“I’m here, Jim,” you say quickly, loudly. You don’t move towards him; you’ve learned better than to touch him when he’s like this. He still beats himself up for that one accidental bloody nose. 

His eyes stop roving and settle on you. He’s in just his underwear, sweat glistening on his heaving chest as he gulps large lungfuls of air. Normally, a sweaty nearly naked Hopper would make your mouth dry and your skin burn. Tonight, it just makes your heart ache. 

“I’m okay, Jim,” you say, quieting your voice to a tone best used on scared animals. “I’m here, we’re both okay.”

“Okay?” He croaks, echoing you. “Okay?” You can see his whole body trembling violently. 

“Yes,” you want nothing more than to wrap yourself around him and kiss away the terrors, but you keep still. “Everyone is okay. It’s 2 am and we are in our cabin. Jane went to Will’s for the night. We went to bed early. We argued about names-again. I fell asleep in your arms, like I do every night. In the Right Side Up.”

Slowly, the fog of his dream begins to dissipate from his face. He looks at you, and you know the moment his warm eyes actually see you. A giant, wrecked sob leaves his chest, like a wounded animal.  
Nobody has heard that sound but you, and it’s the worst sound in the world.

“Come here,” you say, opening your arms and heart wide. He rushes to you, falling to his knees and wrapping his arms around your middle. You bury your hands in his hair, stroking through it in the slow, comforting strokes you know he enjoys.

“It was so real,” he says into your abdomen, and you can tell he is fighting back tears. “You just disappeared, like Will, and I couldn’t find you. I looked everywhere. And you were crying to me from the other side but I just couldn’t get to you. And when I woke up….” he trails off, tightening his arms around you, like he is afraid you might vanish right then and there.

You shush him gently, shaking your head. “It’s okay, love. It wasn’t real. I’m here, with you, and no damn monster is ever gonna take me away. You would never let that happen.”

His breathing is slowing, and his shaking body is steadying with every pass of your hands over his scalp. 

“I just got thirsty,” you say, knowing the sound of your voice will help the process. “Having to pee so damned much makes me drink so much more water. Our kid better not get too comfy on my bladder, or I won’t be able to stand it.”

At the mention of the small life growing inside you, he finally slips into a state of mostly calm. He nuzzles his face into your belly, sliding his hands forward so he can lift up the hem of your shirt. You can’t help but smile as he places a kiss to your stomach. It’s early yet; you haven’t begun to show. But that doesn’t stop Hopper from showering your tummy with affection. 

He takes a few deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out. You match him, and the synchronicity of your breaths soothes the final, lingering threads of panic. 

“Let’s go back to bed,” he says eventually, and you know that that is it. Hopper does not often talk about his nightmares. Once he has calmed down, he shuts that part of him off. Locks his terror up in a box and pushes it firmly aside. You can’t blame him; why would anyone want to dwell on such horrors? You are just glad your love is enough to be a balm for the pain. 

He stands, and takes your face in his hands. You sigh at the feel of his warm palms on your cheeks, closing your eyes as you await what you know is coming. His mouth tastes like toothpaste and cigarettes and everything that is home. He kisses you deeply, thoroughly, and you let yourself be swept away by his passion. He is anchoring himself in you, in the love and devotion that fills one of the empty, torn spaces within his chest. One for you, one for Jane, and one soon to be filled with the new life you have made together.

“I will always be here for you,” you whisper into his mouth when the kiss begins to melt away. “I love you in more ways then I can ever tell you.”

A sniff that he tries to hide, a soft “I love you too, baby,” in his perfect husky voice. The two of you crawl back into your bed, bodies entwined like vines. The quiet of the dark descends once more, the fear and the terror gone for now. Like it never even happened. Everything returns to peace, to calm, to what it should be. 

It’s quiet, at 2 am, in the woods. 

And in that quiet, you hold your beautiful, battered man in your arms and softly hum him to sleep.


End file.
